World tourism took a record dive last year

Industry hit by triple whammy of Iraq war, Sars and weak economy;
South-east Asia showed biggest drop in visitors

GLOBAL troubles took its toll on international tourism last year with its
biggest annual drop ever, and South-east Asia bore the brunt of the
worldwide decline, due to the Sars epidemic.

The Asia-Pacific region saw a drop of 12 million visitors, with previous top
performers South-east Asia and North-east Asia suffering severe losses.

For Singapore, tourism arrivals fell last year by 19.1 per cent to 6.13
million visitors.

But after the battering by Sars, the industry showed signs of recovery from
last June. Arrival figures for November based on a year-on-year comparison
reversed the negative trend since February with a 7.9 per cent boost.

While South-east Asia was reeling from Sars, South Asia made a strong
comeback after two difficult years, hand in hand with a booming economy and
trade liberalisation.

The figures were in a recent World Tourism Organisation report, which said
that international tourism arrivals fell 1.2 per cent last year.

Said the group's secretary-general, Mr Francesco Frangialli: 'In 2003,
international tourism lived through another exceptionally difficult year in
which three negative factors came together: the Iraq conflict, Sars and a
persistently weak economy.'

Although conditions improved considerably as the year progressed, with
positive figures generally starting to return in the second half, this was
not sufficient to result in growth for all destinations.

'The travel industry was affected... But it did not collapse. The decline
was limited and, in such a hostile environment, this very fact confirms the
resilience of tourism,' said Mr Frangialli.

Preliminary estimates by the World Tourism Barometer show the number of
international arrivals slid to 694 million, some 8.5 million less than in
2002, said the group's chief of market intelligence, Mr Augusto Huscar.

Europe experienced zero growth as the Western and Southern/Mediterranean
sub-regions felt the combined effects of a weak economy and the strong euro.
International arrivals in Western Europe showed a fall of 3.7 million, while
Southern Europe closed the year flat and Central and Eastern Europe repeated
their successes from 2002.

The Americas also recorded a decrease (-1 per cent), with North America the
only sub-region to record a loss (-5 per cent) for the third year in a row,
mainly due to the weak economy and continuing concerns about security after
Sept 11, 2001.

In terms of tourist volume, North America is 'the big loser', the report
said. Tourist arrivals fell from 91.2 million in 2000 to 76.1 million last
year.

Forecasts for this year are generally optimistic, based mainly on positive
signs of economic recovery in the US, Japan and Western Europe and a
moderation in conflicts.

Said Mr Frangialli: 'If we are able to avoid further crises, if we do not
allow fears to sweep everything away, and if the necessary security measures
that governments have the duty to implement, especially in air transport,
remain reasonable and balanced, then we can be confident in the industry's
capacity to move forward.' -- NYT

DROP IN VISITORS

Asia-Pacific region: 9%

South-east Asia: 16%

North-east Asia: 9%

Western Europe : 3%

North America: 5%



RISE IN VISITORS

South Asia: 17%

The Caribbean: 8%

South America: 12%

Middle East: 10%

Africa: 5%

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